When tile is laid, the tile may be either continuous, or non-continuous with spaces between individual pieces of tile. Continuous tile may be a singe continuous layer of tile, or pieces of tile, which are butted against each other. Continuous tile may be advantageous in that it is easy to clean, when compared to other floor coverings, such as carpet. Tile, which is continuous, may be disadvantageous in that the continuous tile may become slippery when wet. To overcome this disadvantage, non-continuous tile may be used. Non-continuous tile is generally thicker than continuous tile partly to provide elevation over spaces, or gaps between pieces of non-continuous tile. When the non-continuous tile is exposed to moisture, the moisture tends to collect in the spaces between the tiles, which makes the non-continuous tile less slippery when wet. Because of this feature, non-continuous tile may be installed in places like bathrooms, where slippery surfaces may exist. Non-continuous tile may also be installed in other places where tile is exposed to moisture. Non-continuous tile may further be a style preference. Grout is installed in the gaps between the installed tile to seal the surface and to provide a finished appearance. Grout is generally white in color and recessed below the surface of the tile.
Due to the fact that moisture, and consequently dirt tends to collect in the grout covered spaces between tiles and due to the white color of the grout, the grout often requires cleaning. Because the surface of the grout is recessed below the surface of the tile, conventional mops, or sponges do not effectively clean the grout. Accordingly, there was a need in the art to devise an effective cleaning method for the recessed grout.
Originally, brushes, cleaning solution and water were generally used to clean the grout. Brushes and scrubbing with cleaning solution and water can effectively loosen and remove dirt from the surface of the grout. However, conventional brushes have the drawback of not being able to absorb the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt from the grout. Due to this, mops, or sponges were then used to wipe-up the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt from the grout. Unfortunately, between the time the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt was formed from scrubbing with a brush and the time that the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt was being absorbed by the mop or sponge, the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt generally just flowed back into the spaces between the tile where the grout is located and then reformed on the grout. Brush scrubbing was usually accomplished by hand, which was very uncomfortable and time consuming. Due to this, methods were devised to attempt to absorb the solution of cleaning solution, water and loosened and removed dirt formed by scrubbing the grout with a brush, soap and water more quickly.
One type of solution employed was to locate a brush and mop, or sponge on the same cleaning apparatus. One method of locating a brush and mop, or sponge on the same cleaning apparatus was to make separate attachments for the brush and mop, or sponge. This offered little, if any improvement over just using a brush, soap and water to remove the dirt and a mop or sponge to remove the solution of removed cleaning solution, water and removed dirt, as it took considerable time to change attachments on the cleaning apparatus. An improvement over this was to locate the brush and mop, or sponge on different portions of the same cleaning apparatus. While this is an improvement over constantly changing between a brush and a mop or sponge attachments on the same cleaning apparatus, the cleaning apparatus had to be constantly rotated, or manipulated in some fashion to expose brush and mop or sponge portions of the cleaning apparatus to the grout and surrounding tile area being cleaned. Unfortunately there was still an unacceptable time lag when the cleaning apparatus was being rotated or manipulated to expose different portions of the cleaning apparatus to allow the solution of cleaning solution, water and dirt removed from the grout to drain back to the surface of the grout.
An attempted improvement to the above solutions was to locate a brush and a sponge on the same portion of the cleaning apparatus in close proximity to each other. While this improvement was advantageous over the above-mentioned solutions, in that the sponge was proximal the brush and could quickly absorb the solution of cleaning solution, water and dirt removed from the grout, this class of improvement also had a disadvantage. The disadvantage in this improvement was that in solutions in this class of improvement, the brush was either located flush, or above the bottom surface of the sponge. Due to this, the sponge has to be compressed to allow the bristles to come into contact with the recessed grout during scrubbing. Accordingly, the friction between the sponge and surrounding tile seriously limited the force and velocity of the brush scrubbing, which limited the cleaning of the recessed grout.
Further solutions to cleaning apparatuses for cleaning grout to overcome some of the above mentioned disadvantages included employing mechanisms to allow a brush, or mop sponge to be selectively applied to a surface by a user operating the mechanism. Unfortunately these solutions had the same time lag disadvantages between scrubbing the grout with a brush, cleaning solution and water and absorbing the solution of cleaning solution, water and dirt formed by the scrubbing with a mop or sponge as described above.
What is needed is a cleaning apparatus that overcomes the above disadvantages. A cleaning apparatus is needed that is capable of brush scrubbing the recessed grout with cleaning solution and water to remove dirt on grout surfaces with force and velocity. The cleaning apparatus needs to quickly absorb the solution of cleaning solution, water and dirt formed by brush scrubbing with cleaning solution and water. The cleaning apparatus must also be relatively easy to use and not require hand scrubbing, or frequent manipulation of a cleaning apparatus to expose different surfaces of the cleaning apparatus for different cleaning operations.